


Vulpin

by inabodycastofglass



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Nathanael is a miraculous holder, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-29 20:20:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6391861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inabodycastofglass/pseuds/inabodycastofglass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nathanael's in the park one day when a girl asks if he likes superheroes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I started this story a few months ago before Vulpina came out.

Nathanael first got his miraculous shortly after he turned sixteen. He was at the park, drawing some local fauna for lack of anything better to do, when a woman, only slightly older than himself, but seeming ancient, came up to him and held out a necklace, much like the one he saw in the illustrations of the Chinese literature book they were studying.

“Do you like Ladybug and Chat Noir?”

From there she told him all about kwami’s, and miraculouses, and akuma, and Hawkmoth.

He had no idea why she was telling him any of this, but he listened with rapture.

Then she offered him the necklace.

He stared at it. She was offering him her miraculous. He could be a hero, like Ladybug and Chat Noir, if he just closed his fingers around it.

He did.


	2. Meetings.

The first time Vulpin stood in front of Ladybug and Chat Noir, they just stared at him. It felt like a movie, when music would play and the wind would blow, and the camera would pan slowly to the side.

Vulpin felt sick.

“Where’s Volpina?”

Something about Ladybug’s voice seemed familiar. He’d heard it once before, briefly. But at the time he’d felt dazed and a little star struck.

“She passed her miraculous onto me.” He touched the necklace.

Ladybug paled and stumbled back, and Chat caught her, lowering her to the ground, cradling her.

Oh. So that’s how they were.

She put a hand on his arm and stood. “Well, if she trusted you with this, then welcome.” She held out her hand for him to shake. But he could see she didn’t trust him.

He took it.


	3. Recognize.

Vulpin stared out over the city. It was amazing. He’d only been protecting it for a week, and against a single akuma, but he already felt so possessive over it.

He heard footsteps behind him, and his tail bristled, but he recognized the sound and smell, though he couldn’t place them quite yet. All of the senses he was experiences when fused with his kwami were overwhelming still. Though he was told he would get used to it, he still couldn’t see it happening.

“It’s a beautiful sunset, isn’t it?”

His fox ears twitched, and he turned to her slowly.

“Marinette?”

Ladybug widened her eyes at him. “Who?”

He wasn’t entirely sure for a moment if it was her, himself. There were his senses and imagination to consider. But no. His eyes ran over the line of her jaw and the curve of her neck as it moved into her shoulder. He’d spent so much time staring at it.

“I’d know your voice anywhere, Marinette.” He smiled at her, his neck warm. “I would know the girl I’ve liked for over a year.” He stepped toward her. “Who would have guessed sweet, kind Marinette was the one who saved me from the akuma that possessed me last year."

She furrowed her brows under her mask, making a small “o” with her lips. He glanced at them, tilting his head to the side, and her eyes widened. “Nathanael?”

He grinned at her, laughing, tucking his chin down. He felt a little more confident under his mask, but facing Marinette like this, he still wanted to cower.

But he decided then, in that moment, he would face her head on. Because that’s what superheroes did.

“Yes.”


	4. Friends.

“Good morning, Marinette.”

She looked up at Nathanael, and, for a moment, she appeared unsure. Then she smiled, scooting over, and he took the seat beside her.

Everyone else in their old class had moved onto different paths, yet the two of them had never sat together before now.

But having this new connection, and with Adrien in a different path, there was finally a chance for them to become friends. And maybe, maybe, something more.

Maybe.


	5. Jealous.

Yes, Vulpin was jealous of Chat Noir. He was jealous of the bond he and Ladybug had. Even if he didn’t know she was Marinette, they had something Vulpin didn’t have with her. They had time.

And he found that, with his confidence, he also adopted a sense of possessiveness toward more than just this city. He wanted to keep Marinette to himself.

But that was wrong. She wasn’t an object. She didn’t belong to him.

Still, he felt a sense of resentment toward Chat every time he flirted, or even stood close to Ladybug. And he needed to stop.


	6. The Current State of Things.

Chat noticed Vulpin and Ladybug’s sudden friendship with uncomfortable jealousy. He fidgeted and stared, and got closer to her as the first night wore on.

He could tell that something had happened, but he couldn’t tell what.

Ladybug also noticed his behavior, and responded with huffs, sighs, and eye rolls.

Vulpin felt a sense of relief. Chat liked Ladybug. That was common knowledge. But she didn’t seem to feel anything but comradery toward him.

Of course, Vulpin was in the same position. But at least it meant he had a chance.

Marinette’s feelings for Adrien were waning with their constant unrequited state. And now they rarely saw each other, so the distance between them grew every day.

He could wait for her. He could be patient for Marinette.


	7. Taller.

Marinette paused when they stood up at the end of class one day near the end of the year, starring at Nathanael.

“What is it, Marinette?”

“Are you taller than me now?”

He’d noticed right away when he began to look down at her. It had only been a few weeks, and it was only a few centimetres, but he was taller.

“I am.”

She watched him for a moment longer. “Huh.”

They left the classroom together, talking about the homework assignment.


	8. Summer.

Summer didn’t have much in the way of akuma attacks, which Nathanael attributed to the fact that Chloe was out of the country. Which meant that he and Marinette didn’t see much of Chat Noir, which suited him just fine.

He didn’t hate Chat, but he’d never been a fan. Something about him just rubbed Nathanael the wrong way.

He still saw plenty of Marinette though. There were group outings like picnics and beach visits (which meant seeing Marinette in a swimsuit), and most everyone from their old class, and a few new friends attended.

But the best part, by far, happened when they were on a hike. Nathanael was helping Marinette up a large rock when her leg was just too short to reach, not because she couldn’t lift herself, but just because it was the gentlemanly thing to do. Alya had seen and made a comment about how they would make a cute couple, making Marinette blush.

Nathanael tripped over a tree root, almost falling down the side of a cliff. Ivan and Nino caught his arms, saving him.

He stayed up until it was light that night, drawing her expression so he could see it forever.


	9. Taller Still.

It was on the first day of the new school year, after they found out they were in the same class again, that Nathanael realised he’d grown even taller. His eyes were at the top of her head.

It was a slow thing, a centimetre here and there, slowly creeping up on them. Neither of them noticed, though it seemed so obvious now that it was so much.

It didn’t matter, really. He’d like her no matter their heights. If she were two metres and had to stand on his toes to kiss her, he wouldn’t care. This was just a bonus.

It was the third week of school when Marinette noticed.

He knew the moment she did. She stared up at him with a peculiar look, her nose wrinkled. It was undeniably adorable.

“What is it?”

“You’ve grown.”

He smiled. “People do that.”

She laughed and nudged him with her shoulder, and the two of them went back to their conversation.


	10. Understanding.

About a year into working with Ladybug and Chat Noir, things were running so smoothly, Vulpin hardly noticed. They moved with ease, both he and Chat accepting Ladybug as the leader, and the brains of the team.

The two of them both took pains to protect her, jumping deeper and deeper into danger.

Somehow a competition had formed between them. They often argued over who made the riskier move, and they kept score of who helped her most often.

Chat won the first, Vulpin the second.

And, somehow, somewhere, they’d formed a sense of comradery. They both liked the same girl, working with the same girl, protected the same girl. They felt the same way.

They could understand each other.


End file.
